Macedonian NGO Issues ‘Macedonian Visa’ With Alexander the Great

Macedonian NGO Issues ‘Macedonian Visa’ With Alexander the Great There’s a new, convenient way for people who support United Macedonian Diaspora to fund the nonprofit group’s work. Photo: usa.greekreporter.com

It has been a few years since the new Visa card, ‘Macedonian Visa,’ was introduced in the US. In a program to collect donations, the NGO United Macedonian Diaspora through Visa CardPartner Inc designed the Affinity Credit Card which comes in different designs, one depicting Alexander the Great.

The dispute between Republic of Macedonia and Greece for the name Macedonia dates back to 1991 when Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia and started calling itself Macedonia, a region in Northern Greece.

Such propaganda moves by Republic of Macedonia’s allies trying to falsify history by issuing a card depicting Alexander the Great as their king, definitely do not help resolve the name dispute, Greek Reporter says.

The NGO, which lobbies for Macedonia in the USA and abroad, states in its website:

“There’s a new, convenient way for people who support United Macedonian Diaspora to fund the nonprofit group’s work.”

When a cardholder activates the card, United Macedonian Diaspora receives . Then once a month for the life of the program, United Macedonian Diaspora receives a check for a portion of every dollar that every cardholder charges.

According to its website, United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) was founded in 2004, as an international non-governmental organization addressing the interests and needs of Macedonians and Macedonian communities throughout the world.

The core of the disagreement is the use of the name Macedonia as well as other symbols of Greek culture by Republic of Macedonia. The most significant of these symbols is Alexander the Great who founded one of the most important empires of the ancient world.

In 2011, the government of Republic of Macedonia unveiled a major statue of Alexander the Great in the central square of the nation’s capital, Skopje, causing anger in Greece.